There is a need for an improved method for people to meet over a distance through video conferencing. Presently people go to a room with a video conference system comprised of a monitor with a camera placed above it. While this may provide a view of users in a remote location in a similar room, there is not a sense of presence of those users being in the same room.
Another common usage of video conferencing is for people to use a mobile device with an integrated camera to contact users in another location with a similar camera enabled mobile device. These live communications limit the view of the users to a small screen. The quality of the sense of presence with mobile devices is not adequate for many applications.
While it may be acceptable to have a poor sense of presence in distance communication, there are numerous applications where the sense of presence is critical. As an example, the more clearly a Doctor can see a patient, the better the Doctor can examine the patient. The Doctor's ability to examine and diagnose the patient is further enhanced if the Doctor can control and view the results of diagnostic medical devices in contact with the patient.
There is a need for an improved sense of presence in video communication that can be achieved in the physical interior space of a room that will optimize the communications experience.
Prior art solutions, including configurations described below, have achieved a 3D telepresence configuration within an architectural setting, however with certain shortcomings in the configuration that fall short of providing video conferencing services with a capability of providing a head-to-toe appearance of a life-size person to the user.
The prior art of FIG. 1 illustrates a side view of a room with a user 1 seated in a chair 8. A camera 6 views downward with an angle of view 9 along a horizontal axis through a two-way mirror 2 to a black panel 7. A view 10 reflected off the two-way mirror 2 captures an image of the user 1 with a black backdrop 13.
The prior art of FIG. 2 illustrates a user 1 seated in a chair 8 looking forward with an angle of view 11 toward a two-way mirror 2, horizontally angled downwards along a horizontal axis in the two-way mirror 2, for the user 1 to see an image display device 3 with a background provided by a superimposed image 5 of a reflected view 12 of an overhead backdrop panel 4 that is parallel to and in close proximity to the ceiling above the user 1.
The prior art of FIG. 3 illustrates a user 1 seated in a chair 8. A camera 6 views upward with a horizontal angle of view 9 through a two-way mirror 2 to a black panel 7. A view 10 reflected off the two-way mirror 2 captures an image of the user 1 with a black backdrop 13.
The prior art of FIG. 4 illustrates user 1 seated in a chair 8 looking forward with a horizontal angle of view 11 toward a two-way mirror 2 to see an image display device 3 with a background provided by a superimposed image 5 of a reflected view 12 of backdrop panel 4 that is parallel to and in close proximity to the floor beneath user 1.
The prior art of FIGS. 1 through 4 does not address the need to display a person head-to-toe within the limited footprint and limited height of a small room. These prior art configurations, with two-way mirrors that are angled along their horizontal axis, are limited to displaying the upper body of a person to the user, and capturing the upper body of the user to transmit back to the person at a remote location.
The prior art of FIGS. 1 through 4 incorporate a glass two-way mirror positioned at approximately 45 degrees to a horizontal orientation. This horizontally angled orientation limits the size of the two-way mirror due to sagging caused by gravity. It is difficult to use this horizontally angled orientation to achieve a solution to display a life-size image of a person head to toe.
The prior art of FIG. 5 illustrates a Peppers Ghost display configuration using stretched semi-reflective film 21, such as Mylar, to reflect an image projected on a screen 22 to appear as a superimposed image 23 on a stage 19. In the Peppers Ghost display configuration, the semi-reflective film 21 is angled along a vertical axis, however the configuration is not readily adaptable to provide a videoconferencing solution or an otherwise self-contained limited space solution.
Peppers Ghost creates the illusion of reflecting into the foreground, the images projected on a screen 22. The reflected images appear as the foreground of the objects or persons already positioned on stage 19. The audience is directly viewing stage 19, with whatever is positioned on stage 19, without a direct line of vision to the screen.
Peppers Ghost also requires a large space and complex structure in order to achieve the foreground illusion for the audience. In order to avoid using heavy and fragile materials, such as glass, a large backstage space is required to accommodate, not only the screen 22 and the semi-reflective film 21, itself, but also the structure that has to be built to tightly stretch semi-reflective film 21 in order to achieve a flat plane that provides a more realistic foreground illusion. As an example, one prior art method for stretching film 21 is achieved by pulling the film 21 from a roll 24 with a clamp 26 that is tightened with strap 27 that is connected to a truss 25. A strong truss structure 20 is erected to withstand the amount of tension to adequately stretch the film 21 in the Peppers Ghost application. The rigid truss structure 20 minimizes the sagging of the film 21 that will naturally happen by gravity since it is angled at approximately 45 degrees to the floor.
The prior art of FIG. 6 illustrates a method from holding the film 21 for the process of stretching. The film 21 is positioned in a clamp 26 that is held tightly together to hold the film 21 using bolts 28. The clamp 26 is pulled to stretch the film 21 with a strap 27 that is connected to a truss 25 and tightened with connector 29.
The method of FIGS. 5 and 6 for achieving a reflected image for the three dimensional visual effect cannot fit within a small room or self-contained module.
The truss structure 20 and the distance required for clamping the film 21 with straps 27 take up too much room to be practical in the small space of a self-contained module or small room or space. The self-contained module may be the height and width of a standard cargo container and a small room may be the size of a standard sized office or an exhibition hall in a museum. The dimensions of the module may vary depending on the structure containing the module, but they may be within a range of 7′ to 9′ high, 7′ to 9′ wide and 12′ to 24′ in length.
The prior art solutions are complex to install, require larger space, and are unable of being effectively implemented in a self-contained module that could be delivered to locations of need to provide video conferencing services with the three-dimensional appearance of a life-size person viewed head-to-toe.